Booze, Badboys & Bootleggers: North Country Tales Grandpa Never Told You

By James E. Reagen

What Grandpa Never Told You... A Lot of Northern New York Families Made a Shady Living As Smugglers, Bootleggers, and Booze Runners During Prohibition

• 1920 - Firs

• Language: English
• Publisher: James E. Reagen
• Release date: Dec 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781088078624

James E. Reagen

James E. Reagen, the former award winning managing editor of the Ogdensburg Journal and Advance News, has been writing about Northern New York for more than 40 years. After growing up in Ogdensburg, he began his career as a student journalist and executive editor at the Cavalier Daily newspaper at the University of Virginia. In 1976, he co-authored a series of articles that won the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award for outstanding coverage of the problems faced by African American students at the southern college. He was honored at the home of the widow of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and at a luncheon at the President John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In the summer of 1976, he worked with the White House Press Office for U.S. President Gerald R. Ford's bicentennial visit to Thomas Jefferson's home as part of the 200th anniversary July 4th celebration. That summer he also covered the visit of Queen Elizabeth. In 1978, he went to work as a full-time newspaper reporter for the Martinsville, Va. Bulletin where he wrote about local government, moonshiners and murders, among other things. He later wrote for Inside Detective, Master Detective and Front Page Detective Magazines, with articles including "Who Plugged Johnny Ya Ya," "Daylight Found the Bishop Bludgeoned," and "Seven Slugs for the Self Made Man" to name a few. In 1981, he returned to Northern New York as a reporter for the Ogdensburg Journal and Advance News. He was promoted to editor of the St. Lawrence Plaindealer in Canton and in 1982 was appointed as Managing Editor of the Ogdensburg Journal and Advance News. He was honored by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association for investigative reporting twice, the New York State Bar Association honored him for investigative reporting, and he received a first place news coverage award for reporting on the FBI's raid on illegal casinos at the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. Under his leadership, the newspaper was honored by the Associated Press for its coverage of problems facing the gay community when gunmen showed up at a gay dude ranch. He was the first newspaper editorial writer in Northern New York to editorialize on behalf of gay rights. In 1998, he was honored by Associated Press for his newspaper's coverage of the historic ice storm when he published the newspaper from his dining room table at his house, producing the only newspaper available in Northern New York during the first days of the ice storm. In 2001, on the 25th anniversary of winning the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award, he was invited by the African American Student Association at the University of Virginia to participate in a forum on the groundbreaking articles he co-authored and the effect they had on improving life at the college for students of color. He is the author of four books - Booze, Badboys & Bootleggers (North Country Tales Grandpa Never Told You); a sword and sorcery novel, "Wizardry, the League of the Crimson Crescent," a book on Ogdensburg's role in the French and Indian War - "Warriors of La Presentation," and a book on Ogdensburg's role in the Revolutionary War - "Fort Oswegatchie." He has worked with the OFA Key Club for over 30 years as its advisor and was honored with New York State's Key of Honor for his service to Ogdensburg's young people. In 2011, he went to work for New York State Senator Patty Ritchie and in 2019, he was elected to the St. Lawrence County Legislature to represent Ogdensburg. He and his wife, Donna, own the historic award winning Sherman Inn.

Book preview

Dedication

To

Maureen Hosmer and Annie Hosmer

(The Daughters I Never Had)

About The Author

James E. Reagen has been writing about Northern New York and its history for almost four decades.

He is a 1974 graduate of Ogdensburg Free Academy.

Mr. Reagen began his journalism career at the University of Virginia, where he wrote for the Cavalier Daily, the college's award-winning daily student-run newspaper.

During the summer of 1976, he spent a week with the White House Press Office, assisting in Charlottesville, Va. with U.S. President Gerald R. Ford's visit to Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello during the July 4th Bicentennial celebration.

In 1977, he co-wrote a series of articles on African-American students' struggles at the University of Virginia, which led to the University President resigning from a racially discriminatory country club. The student newspaper won the national Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award in 1977 for its coverage. He was invited to the home of Robert F. Kennedy's widow for a cocktail party. He also attended a luncheon at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where the award, a bust of Robert F. Kennedy, was presented.

A quarter-century later, he was invited to return to the University to speak at a Black Student Alliance-sponsored forum to commemorate the award. He was on a panel discussion that talked about how the articles he and others wrote helped the southern college improve the lives of its minority students.

In the spring of 1977, when the University filed charges against student reporters from the Cavalier Daily, Reagen and his co-editors challenged the case in U.S. District Court, leading to their dismissal.

In 1979, he went to work for the Martinsville, Va. Bulletin, a daily newspaper in Southside Virginia.

In 1981, he began writing about murders across upstate New York for true crime magazines, including Front Page Detective, Inside Detective, and Master Detective Magazines. His articles included Who Plugged Johnny YaYa,'' Seven Slugs for the Self-Made Man, and Daylight Found the Bishop Bludgeoned, to name a few.

In 1982, he returned to Northern New York as a reporter for his hometown newspaper, the Ogdensburg Journal, and Advance News. After that, he served as editor of the weekly St. Lawrence Plain Dealer before being named Managing Editor of the Ogdensburg Journal and Sunday Advance News in 1984. At the time, he was the youngest daily newspaper editor in New York State. He oversaw the day-to-day operations of the newspaper for 28 years, writing over 10,000 editorials in the Ogdensburg Journal.

During his career, he was honored with several investigative reporting and spot news deadline writing awards by the New York State Associated Press Managing Editors Association and the New York State Bar Association.

His awards include a First Place Award for In-Depth Reporting for a series on the foster care program; a Second Place Award for investigative reporting for a series of articles on an investigation of a police sergeant accused of burglarizing Ogdensburg businesses, a First Place deadline reporting with the staff of the Daily Courier Observer for team coverage of the FBI raid on illegal casinos operating on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation. He was also honored by the New York State Bar Association for his coverage of a child sexual abuse case involving a town justice.

The newspaper was also cited in the 1980s by the Associated Press for its coverage of a couple who had opened a gay dude ranch who had been driven out of business by armed individuals who threatened their lives. Reagen was the first editorial writer in Northern New York to stand up for the area's gay community long before it was an accepted notion. 

During the Ice Storm of 1998, he was honored by the Associated Press after he and members of the staff of the Journal and the staff of the Massena-Potsdam Courier-Observer published a joint edition of the two newspapers from his dining room table, producing the only newspaper that was available in the first days after the devastating Ice Storm.

He is currently employed as an aide to New York State Senator Patty Ritchie.

He is the author of three other books, Wizardry, the League of the Crimson Crescent,

Warriors of La Presentation, a history of the French and Indian War and

Fort Oswegatchie, a history of Northern New York's role in the Revolutionary War.

He wrote Tales from the Oswegatchie Delta, a column on the history of Northern New York.

He has two step-sons, Bill Hosmer of Ogdensburg and Dan Hosmer of Rotterdam.

He and his wife, the former Donna Lee Martin, live in Ogdensburg, where they operate a Bed and Breakfast, the award-winning and historic Sherman Inn.

He is a member of the Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club, serving as Advisor to the Ogdensburg Free Academy Key Club, an award-winning high school service club, for almost 30 years.

In 2019, the Ogdensburg City School System presented him with its Civic Award.

He is a recipient of the Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club's Kiwanian of the Year.

He is a recipient of the Paul Harris Award from the Ogdensburg Rotary Club.

He is a recipient of the Seaway Festival Committee's Jay Cole Award.

He has been honored by Ogdensburg Command Performances with the Franky Award.

The New York District Key Club awarded him the Key of Honor for his service to New York State's young people.

He is a former member of both the Fort La Presentation Association and the Ogdensburg Historical Commission and helped found Founders Day Weekend and the Battle of Ogdensburg.

He chaired Ogdensburg's War of 1812 Downtown Battlefield Commission.

In 2018, he was elected to the St. Lawrence County Legislature to represent Ogdensburg.

He serves on the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, helping local businesses to expand and recruiting companies to locate in Northern New York.

Acknowledgment

I can remember in high school visiting the Ogdensburg Public Library when I happened to notice a very large book entitled History of St. Lawrence County. I remember being puzzled as I examined it. How could it be so thick, I asked myself. After all, I remembered thinking with all the certainty that goes with youth, nothing ever happened here.  I remember opening it, expecting to see some mention of some boring event from long ago.  I was startled when I found myself reading about a 16-year-old from Canton who was bayoneted on Ford Street during the February, 1813 invasion of Ogdensburg by British troops during the War of 1812.

I was shocked. Back in those days (the 1960s and 1970s), few people in Ogdensburg knew much about how Ogdensburg and Northern New York were at the center of the great events of the French and British struggle for control of North America, the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.

When I returned to Ogdensburg in the 1980s, after studying at the University of Virginia, working for a newspaper in Southside Virginia and later for a group of crime magazines, I went to work for the Ogdensburg Journal and Advance News under the tutelage of legendary newspaperman Charles W. (Chuck) Kelly, my great mentor and friend. Chuck loved his hometown and Northern New York and encouraged me to share what I learned about our region’s history with our readers during my 28-year career with the newspapers.

After I left the newspaper to join the staff of State Senator Patty Ritchie, I had the opportunity to write a weekly column on Northern New York’s history that appeared in the pages of The Journal. I found that my readers were particularly pleased to learn about some of the details of our region’s shady history as a center of rum running, bootlegging and other illegal doings during America’s Great Social Experiment known as Prohibition.

I was a little nervous bringing up that some families’ grandfathers and great grandfathers were intrepid smugglers, speakeasy owners and booze dealers, but most of their offspring told me that the stories brought to life events that had sometimes been hinted at but seldom discussed at the family dinner table.

This volume offers some insight into the early days of Prohibition and a picture of some of the important figures who shaped it. In future volumes, I hope to explore how the turbulent events shaped the changing views of Prohibition in the North Country

Chapter 1: Police Officer Leaps into Legend

Police officer George Hayden hung onto the taxi for dear life as it raced down Watertown’s Flower Avenue.

Perched on the outside floorboard with the wind whistling through his hair, the Watertown police officer gripped the passenger door tightly as his taxi driver accelerated to pull alongside the bootlegger’s fleeing REO Roadster.

Officer Hayden had spotted the luxury vehicle as it drove into Watertown’s Public Square just minutes earlier, recognizing it as fitting the description of the suspected smuggler’s vehicle that had led police